


The Robber and the Hunter

by Halfling



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-20
Updated: 2012-11-03
Packaged: 2017-11-16 16:52:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 7,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halfling/pseuds/Halfling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean Winchester are highway robbers. Benny is a hunter sent to arrest them for the King, but finds more than he bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The family business

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired in theme by Die Räuber, a play by Friedrich Schiller.  
> Each chapter is ~500 words, and they alternate between Dean and Benny's POV.

When their father disappeared, Dean and Samuel Winchester had no choice but to take on the family business: highway robbery. It wasn’t as if the wealthy townspeople who crossed through these woods couldn’t afford it, and they always let them live. If they didn’t fight back too enthusiastically, that is. It wasn’t a great life, but they had each other, and though Sam might occasionally dream of something more, it was all Dean had ever known, and all he ever cared too. That was, until they robbed the wrong man.

Alastair was the biggest name in the land. Well, second biggest. The right hand of the King without sons, rumor had it he was being primed to one day take the throne. When his caravan rolled through the Winchester’s neck of the woods, they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take him for all he had, and boy, did he have a lot. They managed to take out the entire group and leave them fleeing back to the castle without a single drop of blood being shed. Alastair shouted every sort of threat he knew to their crossbows as they politely led him away from the loot, but that was nothing new. It was their most successful heist yet, and even Sam seemed to relish in the sheer amount of gold they’d seized.

“You know, Dean, we could retire on this,” Sam said as they loaded up the treasures on their horse cart to pull back to camp.

“Oh don’t start, Sammy. What would you even do? Move into town? Hope no one recognizes you or wonders how you came upon such riches? Even if you didn’t raise every suspicion in the land, what then? We don’t exactly have any marketable skills.”

“They wouldn’t recognize us. We’ve been careful. We learned from the best; you’d think dad would want better for us.”

“Dad’s not here. And anyway he’d want us to carry on the family business. That’s what we’re doing.”

“I know, but you think he ever had an endgame in mind? Ever since mom died—“

“Ever since mom was _murdered_. And don’t go there, not today. Can we just celebrate this once? We’ll put this stuff on the black market, first chance we get. It’ll put food in our bellies for months, clothes on our backs for years. We can buy better ammunition. Maybe even some real shoes for Baby.”

The horse snorted at the sound of her name and Sam laughed.

“Okay, okay. You’re right, those things would be good too. Let’s worry about getting this stuff sold first, then we can decide what to get.”

Dean nodded in agreement and that was that. There was really no arguing with either of them. Highway robbery wasn’t the only thing they’d inherited from their father, they both had his stubborn streak in spades, and it often led to disagreements between the two of them. Still, at the end of the day they only had each other, and Dean hoped nothing would ever change that.


	2. The job

Benny loved his job. No, that wasn’t quite right, Benny _was_ his job. He was a hunter, officially, and to be fair to the title, a great number of woodland creatures gave up their lives with one of Benny’s arrows in their heart or his axe in their head. Still, those weren’t the source of the embarrassing riches he managed to bring home every few months or so. Benny hunted people. Specifically, he tracked down people who were unlucky enough to draw the King’s ire, and either bring them in for “questioning” or kill them on sight, depending on which would pay more. Sometimes someone would mysteriously go missing on the way back to the castle, but it happened rarely enough that the King would look the other way most of the times, and for the other times, well, Benny was still the best hunter there was so like it or not, the King would eventually have no choice but to hire him again when faced with a tough mark.

This evening’s most wanted were two highwaymen who’d robbed the King’s favorite bootlicker. Benny had heard about the two, rumors mostly, but ones he had no reason to doubt. They were brothers, sons of the infamous John Winchester, legendary for his hatred of the King, whom he blamed for the death of his wife. John had been robbing the King’s gold for years; the only reason he had never been captured was because he seemed to have a sixth sense about when the King would send out a hunter like Benny to go and kill him. Benny himself had been sent after him from time to time, but with every passing year and each passing failure, the King seemed to resign himself that John couldn’t be caught. That theory sat fine with Benny, though he knew it to be untrue. The King wasn’t the only one with secrets.

Today though, it was John’s sons that were Benny’s concern, and that was just fine with him. He owed them no loyalty and he knew exactly how to track them down. Better yet, because there were two of them and the King wanted them alive, the hunt would be a challenge, and challenges were _fun_. With nothing but a few furs, his axe and his longbow on his back, Benny left the relative safety of the confines of the city and entered the woods.


	3. That night

That night Sam and Dean didn’t make a fire. It was rare that they ever did, of course--their father never would have allowed it--but some nights, when all was still and there was no one around for miles but the two of them, they couldn’t resist.

Dean could tell Sam wanted to build one tonight, by the way he stared longingly at the small pile of wood they had gathered the day before just in case they got the occasion, but he knew better than to ask. They never lit a fire so soon after a heist. That would just be asking for trouble.

As if reading his mind, Sam broke the comfortable silence that had settled between the two of them ever since they got back to their camp. “So, that guy we hit earlier, think he was anyone important?”

 “He did have a lot of loot, but he didn’t exactly seem like royalty. Why do you ask?”

Sam shrugged. “No reason. Just a feeling, I guess.”

“A feeling.”

“Yeah.”

“Well in that case we should probably pack up and spend all night trudging through the woods in the dark with no destination and no hope of finding another comfortable clearing like this one within walking distance of a good water supply.”

“You made your point, Dean.”

“Well come on, Sammy. You and I both know the King won’t hear tell of this until tomorrow at the earliest, and by the time he sends one of his pet hunters after us we’ll be long gone. Tonight we have nothing to worry about.”

Sam rolled his eyes at the statement, and went to sit on Baby to keep first watch, muttering something about tempting fate.

Dean had no idea how wrong he was.


	4. Capture

Benny found them in the wee hours of the morning, just before dawn. The forest was at its most still then, and even the slightest snapped twig could be heard for miles. Dear and other animals that foraged in the twilight moved silently through the underbrush. None of them paid any mind to the hunter as he made his stealthy way among the roots and soft earth.

Since there were two of them, Benny would only have one shot. If they were competent at all—and if they really were John’s sons they certainly would be—then only one of them would be sleeping. That meant the other one would be keeping watch, and that made things interesting. He could knock out the sleeping one easily enough, but that would put him in danger of being shot by the one watching. He could try to knock out the watcher first, but the distance he’d have to be from him to make sure he was unseen meant his accuracy would suffer, and then catching the other would be too risky. If he had more time he would set a trap and wait instead, but the two were sitting on a substantial amount of gold. No way they weren’t moving on at first light, and then they’d both be awake and alert. It was now or never.

Benny loaded one of his special knock-out arrows on his longbow. He’d designed them himself, soft enough not to kill (usually), but hard enough to knock a grown man out for a good while with a solid hit to the jaw. It’d taken him years of practice to perfect the technique but the results were every bit worth their weight in gold he’d receive for bringing the targets in alive. There was no clear shot to be found for the sleeper, so he took his aim on the watcher and fired.

The watcher fell from the horse like a stone. The shot couldn’t have been more perfect if he’d had all night to line it up. The second he hit the ground, the other one was up. He immediately tried to run to his fallen brother’s side. Benny started a rain of arrows between them designed to scare him into fleeing. He couldn’t get another knockout shot in from this angle, but he could make him leave his brother behind if the only other option was certain death.

The one that had been sleeping was very persistent, but eventually he got the hint and ran. He would be harder to catch now, but Benny figured one out of two wasn’t bad, and ascended on their camp to claim his prize.

 


	5. Introductions

Dean never saw what hit him. When he came to, the first thing he became aware of was pain. His head ached like someone had taken a hammer to it, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, his body felt like it had taken a similar beating, and when he tried to move he found his limbs were bound. He tried to open his eyes but the light seemed to stab him right in the brain. He groaned in spite of himself.

“Awake, are ye?” drawled a voice from somewhere beside him. “Thought you’d be out for another hour for sure.”

“Where am I?” Dean asked. It sounded demanding and threatening in his head, but when it came out of his mouth it sounded almost like a plea.

“What’s your name?” The stranger asked.

Dean tried to open his eyes again. He was half-successful. “What’s it matter to you?”

“Call it a matter of curiosity.” Through one half lidded eye Dean could see the man wink at him.

“Where’s my brother?” He managed to sound a little more demanding that time.

The stranger laughed. “Your brother’s long gone. Just you and me now, hombre.”

“Yeah? And who’s you?”

“I’ll give you my name if you give me yours.”

Dean thought about giving him a fake one but ultimately realized no one but Sam and their father knew his real name anyway. “Dean.”

“Nice to meet you Dean, I’m Benny.”

“You a hunter, Benny?”

“I am.”

“That mean I’m under arrest?”

“It does.” Benny grinned, with a little too many teeth for Dean’s comfort.

So Sammy had been right. But the hunter had said Sam was gone. That meant he was alive, or Benny would have bragged about killing him. Hunters always loved to brag when they thought they could get away with it. Dean suppressed the pang of abandonment he felt knowing Sam had left him. It was what he would have wanted him to do. John had given Dean one job his whole life: protect Sammy, and he’d failed. As he slipped back into unconsciousness he swore, he would never make that mistake again.


	6. Winchester

Benny was glad he’d managed to make the other brother leave behind the horse. Dean was heavy as if every inch of him was solid muscle, which, Benny thought, he probably was. The horse seemed to think nothing of carrying the both of them, which made Benny wonder if it was used to having two riders. The extra weight meant they had to stop fairly often and rest, which was fine with Benny. With the horse’s help they’d still make it back to the castle by the next day at the latest. The sooner they got back the sooner Benny could start looking for the other brother, but he didn’t really expect to catch him. No, the one would have to do and that was that. No use stressing over a lost cause. If Benny had learned anything as a hunter, it was that.

It was midmorning, during their third stop that Dean woke up for the first time. He didn’t last long, but it was long enough for Benny to get his name. It was a start.

It was another couple hours and they were stopped again when Benny realized Dean was awake. He was pretending to sleep, but Benny had wasn’t that easy to fool.

“You need something to drink?” He asked. When Dean didn’t respond he continued: “It’s almost noon. Bet you’ve got to be getting parched by now. You can accept one now or you won’t get one until we stop again. Not sure when that’ll be. Could be hours.”

That was a lie, but Dean wouldn’t know that. Sure enough, he took the bait. “My daddy taught me not to accept drinks from strangers,” he said, grinning at his own joke. Benny decided he liked him.

“Well let’s not be strangers then, Dean. You know my name, you know I’m a hunter sent to arrest you for the King, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

Dean seemed to consider this. “My name is Dean Winchester. I'm an Aquarius, I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach and frisky women.”

Benny treated himself a small smile of triumph at the mention of Dean’s last name. “Winchester, hm? Guess you really are your father’s son.”

Instantly, Dean’s whole demeanor changed. “What do you know about my father?”

“I knew him. A good deal better than most I’d say.”

“He never spoke about you.”

“He never spoke about you, either. Man’s got to have secrets, and your daddy more than most. There’s a lot I suspect you don’t know about him.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I think I’ve already told you quite enough. Would you like that drink now or shall we see how long it takes you to pass out again from dehydration?”

Dean glared, but accepted the water skin with his bound hands, draining half of it in one gulp. He even assisted when Benny put him back on the horse. Yes, Benny decided, he liked this one a lot.


	7. Deals

The water helped Dean’s headache a bit, but what Benny had told him had given him a whole new one. True, there was a lot John had kept from his sons, but he knew a hunter? Dean would have thought that’d be an important little tidbit of information, especially considering the circumstances he was now in. Sam and Dean hadn’t seen their father in months, which while not completely suspicious, was the longest he’d ever gone without contacting them.

Dean was torn between hoping Benny knew something, and hoping he knew nothing. He was a hunter, which meant bad news if he knew where John was. No doubt the King still had a hefty price on his head. Still, if he did know something, and Dean somehow convinced Benny to tell him, he could meet Sammy at the place they always said they’d go if they were to get separated and they could go find their father together. It was almost too much to hope for. But suddenly Dean had an idea.

“Hey, Benny, you’re a hunter. I’m under arrest, instead of dead, which means the King’s willing to pay more to have me alive, right?”

Dean felt Benny breathe an amused huff on his neck. “Think that means I won’t kill you if I have to?”

“No, I know. Trust me. But that means there’s a similar price on my brother, right? Means your gold doubles if you bring us both back.”

“That’s right.”

“Well, what if I told you I knew where he is, right now?”

“I’d say you’re stalling.”

Dean shrugged. The guy was good. But Dean could tell he was interested. “Maybe, but what if I told you it’s only half a day’s ride out of your way? You could take us both there now, pick him up like you did me, and still get back to the castle by tomorrow night.”

“You offering to give me your own brother? That doesn’t sound suspicious at all.”

“Well listen, here’s what I’m proposing: I give you my brother, you tell us where our father is.”

“You don’t know where he is? Thought you’d know, being his son and all.”

“As you said, there’s a lot I don’t know about my father. But if you know something I don’t, we could help each other.”

“Tempting, but I’m afraid I don’t know where your daddy is.”

Dean swore. There went that option.

“But,” Benny said after a moment’s thought, “I do know something John told me that might interest you.”

“What makes you think it’s something I don’t already know?”

“Because you still don’t know why you’ve been arrested.”

“I assume the guy we robbed yesterday was a little too tight with the King, convinced him to put a hit out.”

“You’re half-right. What if I told you I know why your dad hates the King so much he’d dedicate his life to stealing from him?”

“I already know that.”

“Do you? Well what if I told you I know the identity of the man who killed your mom?”

Dean’s blood went cold. Benny was right. That was a detail John had never told them. He’d only ever just said the King was responsible. Obviously the King hadn’t killed her with his own hands, but if this hunter knew who had, well, that was definitely worth knowing. “Deal.”

“Deal?”

“Yes. I’ll guide us to where my brother is if you tell us who killed our mother.”

“Deals are usually sealed with a kiss, or is that not the custom here?”

Dean made a face. He was not expecting that one. “Not gonna happen.”

He could feel Benny shrug behind him. “Your loss.”

“Just give me the reigns.”

“How do I know you won’t just be leading me into a trap?”

“You don’t. How do I know you’ll actually tell us when we get there? Or that you even know at all?”

“Guess we’ll just have to trust each other.”

“Guess so.” Benny handed him the reigns and Dean led Baby to the left, heading away from the castle and towards where he hoped Sam was. He wished then he really had a trap to lead Benny into, but all he had was Sam. Maybe that would be enough. He just hoped he was doing the right thing.


	8. Lonely

Perhaps not surprisingly, the going was faster with Dean on the reigns. The horse seemed to respond to him better, and Dean’s mood seemed to improve with every step they took closer to where he insisted his brother would be waiting for him. If Benny even tried to suggest that the guy had probably taken off for his own safety, as Benny would have done were he in the same position, Dean shut down. There was literally no doubt in his mind that his brother was still loyal to him, even after taking off when Benny had captured Dean instead of fighting to the death. It was a strength of bond Benny would probably never understand.

Riding that close, arms wrapped around another person, Benny realized he could remember only one other time he’d felt any kind of companionship to anyone. John Winchester had been fair to him, when no one else would, and for that he owed him a debt, but even that being the case, he’d paid him back in spades. Benny was in debt to no one. He was friends with no one. He had no family to speak of. Life was simpler that way. No one he had to worry about, no one to worry about him, no one to care whether he lived or died. He refused to see that as a bad thing most days, and yet…

Dean was the most interesting thing to come into his life in a long time. Most of the people Dean hunted for the King were little more than runaways—peasants who disagreed with the King, or who couldn’t pay their taxes. They pleaded and begged and cried and when that failed to grant them mercy they would fight Benny every step of the way. Dean, on the other hand, was strangely companionable. They didn’t talk much as they rode—they didn’t have to—but he didn’t complain, except in jest, and he didn’t fight Benny. It would be highly suspicious if Dean wasn’t so genuinely open about everything. Benny liked Dean a lot. And that worried him more than anything.

What if Dean was leading him into a trap? What if he wasn’t? Just thinking about it hurt Benny’s head. Part of him wanted to say forget it, and high tail it back to the castle where he would be paid half of the reward money promised him at least, and things could go back to normal. Another, stronger part of him was reminding him that back to normal meant back to being alone. That wouldn’t have bothered him much before, but now?

He tightened his arms slightly around Dean’s middle, laughing at his protests of “Hey! Lungs! Breathing! Good things, remember?”

How did he ever live without this before?


	9. Us against the world

Riding with Benny, even with his arms bound in front of him and a still aching head as constant would-be reminders, Dean found himself forgetting he wasn’t riding with Sam. They didn’t ride too often, only when they needed to get somewhere fast, such as when they were on the run right after a particularly successful robbery, but those were always Dean’s favorite times.

When they were kids, John had often left Sam and Dean for weeks at a time. They’d make a camp somewhere in the woods with strict instructions on what not to do. They still managed to get into a lot of trouble—most of it Dean’s fault—with more than a few near misses on their lives, but they had always looked after one another. Sam got sick once, really sick, to the point where he probably would have died if Dean hadn’t gone against every order John had given him and gone into the city to buy medicine. Sam recovered, but Dean always got the feeling that John never forgave the transgression. They certainly never talked about it again.

When they were on the move, John would put Dean and Sam on the horse and walk beside. Being bigger, Dean would sit behind Sam, arms wrapped tightly around him so he wouldn’t fall. Later, when Sam hit his last growth spurt and somehow grew taller than even John, Sam would ride behind Dean, arms tight around his middle, just as Benny was doing now. Dean felt another pang of guilt.

Sam had always wanted something more. A house with a roof, a dog sitting by a fire, a girl to keep him company, that was Sam’s dream. It was never Dean’s. Dean liked the life they had. Sure, it was chaotic and dangerous, and quite possibly insane, but there were moments where it was just him and Sam and Baby, riding off after a successful heist, where Dean felt everything was altogether right with the world. Would he ever have that again?

As they passed a boulder cloven in two, Dean realized they were close. There was a clearing up ahead that John had discovered years ago on one of his many mysterious trips away from Sam and Dean. He’d taken them there, showed them how to find it no matter where they were in the vast woods. If they ever had to find each other, it would be there. Dean signaled to Benny, and they dismounted for a quiet approach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw, for any equestrians out there? I'm so, so sorry.


	10. The Witch

Benny notched an arrow on his longbow, ignoring Dean’s silent protest. No way he was going into this unprepared. When they neared the edge of the clearing they could see the makings of a camp. There was no sign of anyone, until—

“Sam!” Dean shouted, running towards his brother.

“No!” Benny shouted, but it was too late. The two were embracing, Benny had no choice but to aim his arrow at them both.

“Benny, what the hell?” Dean asked, still not grasping the details of the situation.

“That’s not your brother, Dean,” Benny explained calmly as he could.

Dean took a small step back and examined what he thought was his brother, confusion written all over his face.

“Is that a hunter, Dean? You brought a hunter here?” Asked the thing that looked like Sam.

“Either you move or I shoot you both,” Benny warned.

“I won’t let you shoot him, dammit we had a deal!” Dean shouted.

“I told you, that’s not your brother. Look at its eyes.”

Dean turned back and stared into pure white eyes. The thing laughed, realizing it’d been caught. With a twist of a hand, it changed from Sam into the shape of a blond woman with sharp features. Dean took another step back. “What the…?” He began.

“Clever boy,” the woman cooed. “That spell’s supposed to be undetectable.”

Benny scoffed. “Your parlor tricks only work on the unsuspecting, like my friend here. Now get back to the castle where you belong, witch.”

“Where’s my brother?” Dean demanded.

“I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced,” she smiled at him, “I’m Lilith. Sorry about your brother dearest. I’m sure you two were close.”

“What does that…” His voice wavered and Benny could tell he needed to get Dean out of there, now.

“Don’t listen to it, Dean. Just step away.”

“Oh I don’t think so,” she said gleefully. She grabbed Dean by the wrist and swung him around to use him as a human shield, a sharp knife to his throat. “The King’s not too happy with you, Ben. Said you’d have both of them in hand in no time flat. Then you’re spotted riding with this one away from the castle. Think I’d miss the opportunity to gain extra loyalty points by bringing them in myself?”

“I’d kill you for less,” Benny said with a shrug.

“You shoot me, this one dies, and you never learn when I’ve done with the other one. That means you don’t get paid, and the King will be very unhappy to hear you killed his right hand girl. Might even put a price on your head for the other hunters to have a bit of sport.”

Benny lowered his weapon. “Fine. I can’t kill you. But I also can’t let you leave with him. You already got his brother. This one’s mine.”

“Don’t I get a say in th--?” Dean was cut off suddenly as Lilith snapped her fingers and his mouth slammed shut on its own accord.

“Not now, honey, the grownups are talking,” Lilith purred. To Benny she continued, “What makes you think I would just give him up to you now that I have him?”

“Because I know whose bed you’ve been keeping warm at night. Think the King might be interested to know as well?”

That finally wiped the smile from Lilith’s face. “You wouldn’t.”

Benny smirked his victory. “I think we understand one another. How’s about you give me my prisoner and be on your way?”

Lilith glared and disappeared with a snap of her fingers, leaving Dean behind.

“Is she gone?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t be so sure…”

Sure enough, as soon as he’d spoken, Lilith appeared one last time, taking aim and throwing her knife at Benny before disappearing for good.

Dean reacted before Benny even had time to process what had happened, throwing himself in front of Benny, and the knife. Benny shouted his name as he fell.


	11. Plans

Dean didn’t even think when he saw the knife flying through the air, he just moved. Time seemed to move in slow motion as it hit him like a punch and he collapsed to the ground. He remembered someone shouting as he pulled the knife out and staring in awe at the amount of blood soaking through his shirt as his vision went hazy, then black.

When he came to, he was back on Baby, Benny’s familiar arms wrapped around him holding him up.

“What happened?” he croaked.

“You took a knife to the shoulder that was meant for me. Bloody stupid thing to do.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Wasn’t thanking you.”

“I know.”

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the steady crunch of undergrowth beneath Baby’s hooves and the sounds of the forest. It was so familiar and comforting that Dean was ready to lose himself in it and pass out again when Benny spoke up.

“Why.” He didn’t phrase it like a question but Dean knew that’s what it was.

“Don’t know.” It was the truth. He’d reacted on instinct, and in that moment every one he had said to jump in front of that knife. So he had. Wasn’t about to apologize for it either.

“Gotta say, I’ve seen some stupid things in my day but that just about takes the cake.”

“Yeah, well, what do you care? I’m just your prisoner, remember? A paycheck. You made that much clear with the witch. Or do you get paid less for damaged goods?”

He sighed. “You aren’t my prisoner anymore.”

Benny’s statement took a second to sink in. “Sorry, what?”

“You saved my life, so now I’m saving yours. I’m taking you back to your camp, if you hid it well enough your gold should still be there. Use it to find your father, or just get the hell away from the city, I don’t care.”

“You’re going to let me go. Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“But what about you?”

“What about me?”

“I assume that bitch has already informed his Highness that you’re bringing me in. What happens to you if you fail to deliver?”

Dean felt Benny shrug. “He’s got one of you. That’ll be enough to satisfy him. Alastair won’t be happy, of course, but I’ve always hated that lickspittle.”

A new pang of guilt stabbed Dean in the heart. “What will happen to my brother?”

Benny didn’t answer for so long that Dean began to wonder if he’d heard him, but then he finally spoke. “Depends on if the King wants to make an example of him or not. If he does, he’ll be tried and found guilty. The punishment for robbery is beheading.”

Dean swallowed hard. “And if he doesn’t make an example of him?”

“Then he’ll let Alastair have him. Honestly, a beheading might be kinder.”

“Take me to the city.”

“Dean—“

“He’s my brother. I swore to protect him. Take me to the city.”

“I’m trying to save your life, here. Kinda pointless if you turn around and commit suicide.”

“I don’t care. I will save him or die trying. Do you understand me?”

“Better than you know.” Benny growled in frustration. “Fine. If we’re going to do this we’re going to do this my way, got it?”

“What? No. No offence, but I don’t need your help.”

“ _No offence_ , but you’re still groggy from blood loss, you have one good arm, no plan, and no weapon. Besides, you’re a wanted man, remember? Without my help you wouldn’t even get inside the city limits.”

For all his stubbornness, Dean couldn’t deny Benny was right. He needed Benny to get Sam. He still wasn’t sure how Benny had gone from his capturer to his only ally, but he wasn’t complaining.

“Hey, Benny?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“You can thank me if we live through this.”

Dean almost smiled, despite the dread at what was to come growing in his gut. “Fair enough.”


	12. Stupidity

Benny turned the horse towards the city like Dean asked. This was suicide, surely Dean could see that, but Benny knew he didn’t care. With their father gone, his brother was probably all Dean had left in the world. Benny had been without anyone for so long he’d forgotten what that was like. But it was coming back to him.

When he saw Dean go down with the knife that was meant for him, he’d felt like his heart had stopped. For a moment, he thought Dean was dead, and in that moment that thought was unbearable. He remembered shouting, and running, and when he got to Dean’s side and saw Dean pull the knife out he had just wanted to kiss him for being alive and slap him for being so stupid all at the same time. Where did that even come from?

Dean had passed out from the blood loss son after that. Benny stitched him up as well as he could with what crude tools he had. Thankfully he’d had plenty of experience patching up his own sorry body after many a scuffle in the line of duty. Cutting his bonds had been the first thing he’d done once he was sure Dean would live. The decision to let him go came later.

It would be for the best, he told himself. He liked Dean, liked him a lot more than he probably should. He couldn’t let the King or Alastair get their hands on him, not after all this, but all the same a selfish part of him didn’t want to let him go. Dean had barely even known him, certainly had no reason to trust him, and yet he’d nearly died to save Benny’s life. It made him mad because it was a stupid, reckless, foolhardy thing to do, but it also touched him in a way he didn’t expect to be touched, not now, not ever. Dean really was something else.

But that still didn’t explain why Benny was agreeing to help the idiot try to save his brother. The guy was a lost cause, but Dean had promised to save him, and Benny had promised to save Dean. Now they were all going to die horribly, and for what? Because it’s better than dying alone, he thought. Let’s hope the afterlife is interesting.


	13. Storytime

Dean was slipping in and out of consciousness for a while before Benny decided something needed to be done. He pulled Baby to a stop, sliding off her back before carefully lifting Dean to the ground.

“Hey, I can get off my damn horse myself,” Dean protested, but as soon as Benny stood him on his feet he nearly fell over until Benny caught him and helped him sit at the foot of a tree.

“Oh, I can see that. Regardless, you need to eat. I’m going to go shoot something, wait here and try not to bother your stitches. Keep this.” Benny handed him what looked like a handmade axe. “Anything comes up, you whistle for me, then start swinging. I won’t be long.”

He took off before Dean could complain that Benny was treating him like a child. He knew whining wouldn’t help, but his shoulder hurt and his brother was going to be either killed or tortured or both soon if he couldn’t stop it so if he was feeling pouty it was at least justified.

Benny came back in what seemed to Dean to be only moments later, two freshly killed rabbits in hand.

“Here,” he said, tossing them in Dean’s lap, “Skin these while I get a fire going.”

“You sure it’s safe to light a fire?”

“Safer than eating them raw. We’re expected back at the castle, that’s where we’re heading. No need to hide, yet.”

“Guess that makes sense.” Dean stared at the rabbits in his lap. He always hated skinning animals. When it was just him and Sam he always made Sam do it. “Hey, what makes you think I know how to skin a rabbit anyway?” he asked, hoping to get out of it.

Benny smiled. “If you were raised by John Winchester, then you know how to skin a rabbit. You probably know how to skin a lot of things.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, doesn’t mean I enjoy it.”

Watching Benny build the fire, Dean started to notice that he went about it the same way he would. The same way his father always had.

“Hey, Benny.”

“Yeah, Dean.”

“How did you know John?”

“Bit of a long story.”

Dean shrugged and began skinning the first rabbit. “We have time.”

“Guess I could give you the short version. I was young, too young, and your daddy had just pulled off his first robbery of the King’s gold. King put a price on his head, dead or alive, and I was foolish enough to think I could take him. I had always been a good hunter. Tracking down animals is something of a talent of mine. Anyway, I found him without trouble, but I couldn’t bring myself to kill him. I think John knew I wouldn’t do it. I think that’s why he let me live.”

“He knew you were a hunter and he let you live?” John had always taught Sam and Dean to fear hunters, and to kill them if one tried to bring them in for a bounty. Letting a hunter live after he had tried to kill him? That just didn’t seem like the John that Dean knew at all.

“At that time he wasn’t a killer yet. I wasn’t either. But we had a deal. Every time the King hired out some new hunter to bring him in I would get to John first and warn him so he could disappear for a while. I stayed with him on occasion, taught me the basics of living in the woods, though he always acted like he had some pressing matter elsewhere. Guess that was you and your brother.”

“Yeah, must have been.” It was strange seeing John through someone else’s eyes. Suddenly, Dean remembered their deal. “Benny, did he really tell you who killed our mom?”

“Oh yeah, almost forgot about that. He was going by the name Azazel then. Now he mostly goes by Alastair. Almost funny, you robbing him caused all this trouble in the first place.”

Dean didn’t find it funny at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this story's purposes Azazel = Alastair, because I am an idiot and confused the two. Apologies!


	14. An encounter

Even after he practically forced chunks of roasted rabbit down Dean’s throat, the guy was still useless. Too much blood loss, Benny figured. They had no choice but to camp where they were, for a little while at least.  Trying to explain that to Dean though--that was a whole different kettle of fish.

“I’m fine,” Dean insisted for the fourth time as he attempted (and failed) to get on Baby’s back unassisted, “We have to go now, I don’t care if you have to tie me to the horse, we aren’t camping here.”

“No, you aren’t fine, and no we aren’t going anywhere. Not til you’ve slept a little. Trying to ride like this will only make it worse.”

“My brother is in the hands of the man who killed our mother and you think now is the time for sleep?” Dean was on the verge of hysterical at this point. Benny chalked it up to exhaustion.

“Yes, actually, it is. You can’t save him like this, you’ll only get us both killed, and then where will your brother be? If you don’t go to sleep of your own accord _now_ , I’ll knock you out myself, your choice.”

Dean glared at him but it was quickly rendered ineffective as Dean poignantly yawned. “Fine. You win. Two hours, no more. You wake me up in two hours or so help me…” Dean yawned again, taking all bite out of his threat.

“You got it, big guy,” Benny cooed, slowly pushing Dean to the tree where he’d sat before, cushioned with one of Benny’s furs. Dean was unconscious before his head touched down.

Benny stood watch while Dean slept. He could tell two hours wouldn’t be enough for Dean to make a full recovery, but he’d keep his promise to wake him then, if only to try and convince him he needed more sleep. It’d be a losing battle but one he’d try to fight anyway for Dean’s own good.

It’d been maybe half an hour when Benny became aware that they were being watched. Years spent in the forest had honed his senses until he could tell the difference between human presence and animal, even from a distance too great for visibility. Someone, not something, was closing in on their campsite, making so little noise they had to be a fellow hunter. This was very bad news.

Benny glanced over at Dean, trying to decide if he should wake him or not. He’d stand a better chance in a fight with someone else at his back, but in Dean’s current state he would probably be more of a liability than an asset. Benny decided he’d be safest if he slept through this little exchange.

Benny hefted his axe and headed in the direction of their mysterious visitor. His longbow would be of little use against another hunter. Close combat, hard and fast, was his best shot. He was nearing in for the kill when suddenly the figure attacked.

There was a quick scuffle and Benny found himself unarmed and on his back within moments. The man pressing a knife into his throat was none other than John Winchester.


End file.
